Tinley Park mayor pressing forward with Wal-Mart

Despite the hostile reception from village residents to a proposed $50 million Wal-Mart development in Tinley Park and a "no" vote from a local school district, Mayor Ed Zabrocki intends to press forward with plans to bring in the superstore.

"I'm carrying on because this is what is good for the village as a whole," Zabrocki said during a recent interview. "In each project...you're going to run into individuals who don't want it. We caught holy hell when we built 183rd Street."

To Zabrocki, a Wal-Mart at 191st Street and Harlem Avenue would be a boon for Tinley Park, bringing in $7.5 million dollars in sales tax revenue alone, he said.

Village officials have, at previous forums, proposed a 300,000-square-foot Wal-Mart at the intersection, across the street from Brookside Marketplace. The new store would add 350 jobs at an average hourly rate of $12.80, village officials have said, and bring in millions of dollars in sales and property taxes.

Residents, many of whom live in the Brookside Glen subdivision where the Wal-Mart would be built, have told the village they're opposed to the development in public and private. Zabrocki said 80 to 90 percent of residents he's heard from via email are opposed to the deal.

A Wal-Mart spokeswoman said she had no comment for this story. In the past, the store's representatives have said they're "always looking for opportunities to serve our customers across the country, but we've made no announcement with regard to Tinley Park."

Part of the opposition stems from tax incentives Tinley Park has proposed for the development. In order to attract the company, village officials have said that Wal-Mart needs incentives, including tax abatements worth about $4.4 million dollars from Summit Hill School District 161, Lincoln-Way Community High School District 210 and the Frankfort Park District during the first few years of the store's development..

The proposed development was dealt a potentially fatal blow on Oct. 9, once the Summit Hill school board voted against providing the corporation with tax breaks. Zabrocki said he was surprised by the district's negativity toward the proposed development.

"Quite frankly, it's a project that's going to bring in four and a half million dollars and they don't have to do anything," Zabrocki said.

Board President Sean William Doyle said it was an issue of "fairness" before rejecting the proposed abatement, saying Wal-Mart has billions of dollars yet was "demanding a school district give up $1.4 million to help them develop a site, put up a store and make money."

Other board members expressed concern that the development would force the district to raise taxes on residents if the Wal-Mart caused property values to go down during the abatement period.

Zabrocki told the Tribune that the idea of bringing Wal-Mart to Tinley Park began around 2005, when a developer proposed buying the property at 191st and Harlem to bring in a Wal-Mart.

In order to do the deal, Wal-Mart wanted incentives that were "just too high," Zabrocki recalled, though he doesn't remember what they were.

In 2009, Tinley Park officials approached Lincoln-Way 210 and entered into a two-year contract, allowing them to market that corner to superstores like Wal-Mart, Lowe's, the Home Depot and a number of grocery stores, Village Manager Scott Niehaus said.

In November 2011, they renewed the deal and continued marketing the property, which has yielded "nothing real serious" except for Wal-Mart's interest, village officials said.

After the district rejected Wal-Mart, Zabrocki said the village could still make a deal happen at that property without Summit Hill. But, he said, that "makes it a much harder sell" because you would have "a school district who skated free" from the abatements.

But a Wal-Mart could still possibly be built there, Zabrocki said.

A future Wal-Mart could potentially go up farther south on Harlem, between Interstate Highway 80 and Vollmer Road within the boundaries of Elementary School District 159 and Rich Township High School District 227, village officials said.

Zabrocki said he will continue pursuing the project until he is convinced that a deal cannot be done, either for planning or abatement reasons.

"I've been mayor for 32 years. I've never worried about re-elections," Zabrocki said. "I've done what I think is best for the village. If you want to vote me out, vote me out. It's just the way I feel."

During a village board meeting last month, Zabrocki said he does not "particularly like" Wal-Mart, a statement he's hesitant to elaborate on.

"If I had my way, I would go with a Macy's, a Von Maur, that's what I'd want to put there," Zabrocki said. "But that's totally unrealistic. What is realistic? Wal-Mart's realistic."